When Hate and Love Collide You Get MAGIC? 2 updates! 3/10

[nenner1]

"Nice to finally meet ya jon. The story here sounds like it'll b a dream come true. My schedule drops a weeks prior sooo send me dates when for when ur n Orlando and ill work around what I'm working to make some magic for ur son..woody and buzz have sets together at studio's and Mickey is everywhere..I can set up a private meet and greet with some characters and I think I can help with MNSSHP.."

and then he would go into detail of what he WOULD do... I was just floored and emotional. I don't cry, but I was balling like a baby. Someone I have never met, is willing to go out of his way for my family. This trip needed a lot of love to get it to where it was going... I told him one last time that if he was too busy that it would totally be ok. As it was, I was going to be on vacation with my family and that was enough for me.
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THIS is so awesome!!! Of course I know how it all ends but I cannot wait to read it all, and especially see pics of Adam enjoying it. He is such a sweet little dude, it is so awesome that a virtual stranger could make it so special for someone they didn't even know!!

 

[mommywa]

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

can't wait to hear more!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Wow, that's an awesome bit of magic!

 

[anewmac]

aww cant wait about the pixi dust, how awesome for someone to go out of their way like that. ITs was really makes a CM a cm

 

[KGGJT]

Great TR

 

[ocean134]

Checking in for an update...

 

[afwdwfan]

Well, I've read through your PTR and your TR up to this point. I'm really enjoying it and look forward to finding out how everything works out for you. I just hope that Adam gets to meet Woody and Buzz.

 

[Fastpaks]

I can't wait to hear about your pixie dust!

Well, one thing I can promise... you won't have to wait too long!

Lot's o stuff said

You know I never saw the waterfalls after the mountian when you go down. I was told by someone that as you are coming into chatanooga that they are on the sides of the road just poaring out. I don't think I even saw them.

I was glad the he didn't have a meltdown either. Looking back it was a mistake to not rest when we got there. I think we would have enjoyed WDW that much more. It sorta hard to say that considering all the things that did happen on both trips. (DCL included)

Loving the story and CONGRATS on the 20lbs. lost!!! That is nothing to smirk at, it's hard work!!!

Thanks. My DoT Doctor just told me to lose another 100lbs or he is going to make me take a ton of tests in 2 years. I think I get the drift

THIS is so awesome!!! Of course I know how it all ends but I cannot wait to read it all, and especially see pics of Adam enjoying it. He is such a sweet little dude, it is so awesome that a virtual stranger could make it so special for someone they didn't even know!!

Yeah it really was. But Jen, there was something that happened after we went back to WDW that you don't know about?!?! HMMMMM.

Is it chocalate covered? I just had that at Costco and its AWESOME!

can't wait to hear more!

Soon I promise!

Wow, that's an awesome bit of magic!

It really ends up being a lot of little things!

aww cant wait about the pixi dust, how awesome for someone to go out of their way like that. ITs was really makes a CM a cm

The CM was a total class act! Like I said, his reveal to us was on 2nd day of the trip.

Great TR

Thanks! Hopefully the rest will measure up as well!

Checking in for an update...

I don't get sick very often and have been for about 2 weeks now. Its been a total bummer. I'm hoping to have some more up as soon as I can get well!

Well, I've read through your PTR and your TR up to this point. I'm really enjoying it and look forward to finding out how everything works out for you. I just hope that Adam gets to meet Woody and Buzz.

Thanks man! One of these days, I may have to become one of those dads!

 

[Fastpaks]

After I nearly broke down from all the excitement from earlier in the day, I needed a place to rest. Remember, I have now been up for nearly 40 hours on about 1/1/2 rest. I had found a deal using Kayak .com for a 3 start Hotel for about $50. It would have the one thing we required at most of our hotels: breakfast.

During the day at Sea World, while my son was in the kid area playing, I called my mom one last time. She would go to my house, get the GAD vouchers, and fax them to the hotel we were at. What I didn't know was that she and the front desk clerk had been talking all day making sure that my check-in would go smooth and the faxes were there.

When we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express on Polynesian Isle, I was greeted with the vouchers, my room key, some thank-yous, and we were on our way. I was a little nervous about the hotel as it had gotten some recent bad reviews on trip advisor. Once I arrived to the room, we all realized that this was going to be a good sleep. The room was clean and what you would expect. After reading about bed bugs on the boards, I would check the mattresses just to be safe.

Not long after, we were helping my son do homework, showering and running to Wal-mart b/c that's what you do when you are on vacation. There is always something you forget. In my case, I was trying to fix a Mickey watch with a new battery. I got the battery but could never put the backing back on. By the time all of it was said and done, it was nearly 11:00pm and we had Epcot in the morning.

I didn't care about rope drop, but I wanted to get in the park just a little after. My goal was to be on our way to the WDW by 8:45pm. Well, we will see.

***********

On a side note: You really don't know how good you have it at certain hotels until you experience one SO bad that it creeps you out. The reviews for the Holiday Inn Exp that we stayed at were imo unfounded. We found the staff to be friendly, the rooms clean, breakfast was not as good as the Amerisuites by the Airport but decent. Overall, I would stay there again. SO why all this extra ad, ? Simple, for those that will be coming back with me to the cruise boards after this trip report, I stay at Hotel Hell. I wish I was kidding.

Next: Day 1 Epcot!

 

[podsnel]

I really love that the CM who spread the pixie dust was a friend of a virtual friend- it makes it even more special!

We still haven't taken the kids to SeaWorld- I am thinking we will in November 2012, because we'll be at WDW for a full week (we usually are less than that). The last time I was there, the closest thing to a ride was the conveyor belt through the penguin house- it seems alot has changed!!

 

[afwdwfan]

On a side note: You really don't know how good you have it at certain hotels until you experience one SO bad that it creeps you out. The reviews for the Holiday Inn Exp that we stayed at were imo unfounded. We found the staff to be friendly, the rooms clean, breakfast was not as good as the Amerisuites by the Airport but decent. Overall, I would stay there again. SO why all this extra ad, ? Simple, for those that will be coming back with me to the cruise boards after this trip report, I stay at Hotel Hell. I wish I was kidding.

Next: Day 1 Epcot!

I know what you mean. I used to travel a lot in a past job I had (got a card from Holiday Inn one Christmas congratulating me on being in their top 1% of customers for the year). I've found that the HI Exp tend to be decent if not great, and you kind of know what to expect. I think I've stayed at hotel hell once or twice in my experiences too. I'm interested to see what your experiences were when you stayed there.

 

[nenner1]

After I nearly broke down from all the excitement from earlier in the day, I needed a place to rest. Remember, I have now been up for nearly 40 hours on about 1/1/2 rest. I had found a deal using Kayak .com for a 3 start Hotel for about $50. It would have the one thing we required at most of our hotels: breakfast.

During the day at Sea World, while my son was in the kid area playing, I called my mom one last time. She would go to my house, get the GAD vouchers, and fax them to the hotel we were at. What I didn't know was that she and the front desk clerk had been talking all day making sure that my check-in would go smooth and the faxes were there.

When we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express on Polynesian Isle, I was greeted with the vouchers, my room key, some thank-yous, and we were on our way. I was a little nervous about the hotel as it had gotten some recent bad reviews on trip advisor. Once I arrived to the room, we all realized that this was going to be a good sleep. The room was clean and what you would expect. After reading about bed bugs on the boards, I would check the mattresses just to be safe.

Not long after, we were helping my son do homework, showering and running to Wal-mart b/c that's what you do when you are on vacation. There is always something you forget. In my case, I was trying to fix a Mickey watch with a new battery. I got the battery but could never put the backing back on. By the time all of it was said and done, it was nearly 11:00pm and we had Epcot in the morning.

I didn't care about rope drop, but I wanted to get in the park just a little after. My goal was to be on our way to the WDW by 8:45pm. Well, we will see.

***********

On a side note: You really don't know how good you have it at certain hotels until you experience one SO bad that it creeps you out. The reviews for the Holiday Inn Exp that we stayed at were imo unfounded. We found the staff to be friendly, the rooms clean, breakfast was not as good as the Amerisuites by the Airport but decent. Overall, I would stay there again. SO why all this extra ad, ? Simple, for those that will be coming back with me to the cruise boards after this trip report, I stay at Hotel Hell. I wish I was kidding.

Next: Day 1 Epcot!

Man it must have felt nice to get some SLEEP!!
Can't wait to hear how Epcot was, we skipped it this year!

 

[anewmac]

yeah rest.. something we never do enough of on vacation LOL

Someday we would love to hit up the other parks in Otown.. but somehow we keep going back to the mouse.

Cant wait to hear how Epcot goes!

 

[myelton01]

Yeah, I only saw all the signs for the falls! I'm glad your hotel turned out so nice this time! Can't wait for more!

 

[jc040404]

Glad the hotel was nice! You didn't anything else to deal with that night. I have a rough time with those bad reviews on tripadvisor. They've kept me from even thinking about staying offsite, but I'm sure onsite resorts have some bad ones, too. Make sure you post something positive over there, too!

Can't wait to hear about Epcot!

 

[BettyBeBop]

I can't believe you made that long drive! I drive from time to time from Texas and I think the drive gets longer each time I try to do it! Or maybe I just get older and it feels that way! LOL. Can't wait to read more and then travel over to your Cruise report.

 

[Fastpaks]

We awoke at about 7:30 to an alarm that was blarring in my ear. Ahhh there is nothing like the sweet sound of Aarrrr aaarrrr Aaarrrr in the morning. Knowing that it was our first day at Disney, we all woke up with great hatred for that alarm clock. I considered throwing it but then I'm going to the happiest place and all that so I gave it mercy.

After gathering up our belongings, we packed up the car, ate our breakfast, and headed off to Epcot. We were on the road by 9:30. It was a short drive from the hotel to WDW. When I looked back at my son to see if he was excited, I could tell it was something a bit more. Parents will completely understand the look of a child that is already over stimulated with everything. The kids are excited but you can see them being completely overwhelmed with everything. Then we got to those o so famous.. we are here moments

Then 10 minutes later, we pulled into Epcot parking lot, payed for parking and began the 'hook around to park'. Within SECONDS my wife hears, "MOM MOM MOM, Take a picture of the Big Ball!!"

I just kinda laughed and then we parked. I went to Guest Relations really quick to make sure that the vouchers my mom faxed to the hotel were ok. They were. Then my son would ask to go to the bathroom at a relatively inconvenient time. (This would be a trend the entire time). My wife said she would take him and I would get the tickets. As I began to make my way down all the various lines I would end up the furthest away from the Guest Services and proceeded to make my purchases as well as talk to the CM while I was waiting on my wife and son.

While I was trying to get the tickets, my wife was trying to find me back at Guest Relations. I was finishing up getting the GAD and upgrading to a 5 day tickets when she found me. The plan was Epcot/Day off since we couldn't get the help on Mnnshp tickets/MK/DHS/AK then cruise. I asked the lady to just look into the Mnnshp tickets just in case. When I found out how much they were I felt a little sheepish.

"about $165", she said. I looked at my wife and said well would you like to go. She thought we couldn't afford it and I told her that I brought an extra 120 for Mnnshp (originally I was going to surprise her with them) and that it would only be 45 more. It took all of a billionth of a second for the, "sure," to come out. She was a little annoyed that she had to walk around so much to find me. I then sent a text message to my CM contact, and he sent one back excited and said he will begin to set things in motion for the Mnsshp.

We made our way into Epcot and took a picture or two when we would run into DAISY!Naturally, we took a picture with he and got her signature.

Then immediately after we would run into Stich!

After we really didn't know where to go?! So we started towards the Land Pavilion when we noticed the character line was short. So why not! There we would run into Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Donald. Taking pictures, getting autographs and then my son would discover the art of pin trading with CMs.

Goofy had to take a quick coffee break according to a CM and then he signed as well.

When we came out, I really didn't know where to go. I had the Lines app with me and figured that may be we should get Test Track done. So we headed there. The line said 40 mins. It wasn't. I think in total (with the ride break down) it was about 65 mins. AND OF COARSE, when we were almost done with the line, I would here, "I have to go to the bathroom." I convinced him it would only be a few more mins when the load speaker announced the Tech Difficulties!

Fortunately, things turned out ok. I convinced him to start working a Journal (that after this day he would never touch again.) Not long after we were on the ride, and then in the dark. I could here him cringe. I worried about him not enjoying the ride do to being in the dark and the whole "bad experience" we had at Sea World and the roller coaster. But once we were off, he told me he enjoyed it.

THEN HE SAW THE CARS!!

Only at Disney can you see cars and get extremely excited to get in one and take a picture.

My wife liked Pick-up!

My son preferred something more sporty?!

But then he saw elegance... and I have to admit he has expensive taste!

 

[Fastpaks]

After we came out of the attraction, we noticed that the crowd was just becoming larger and larger. So after talking about it, we decided to walk to the World beginning with Mexico and go around. Food and Wine was in full effect as we would pass countless places to try. (I found that if and when I come back to Epcot, this is one of those must-dos for me.)

Our first stop was in Mexico. I had never ridden the boat inside there. When my son realized it was a boat he began to panic. I assured him that all was well, because there was nothing in front of the people in the front row, like a "relaxing ride!" He would always ask me if the rides were relaxing because that is how he would 'like to roll' the rest for the week. After we partied on the boat with the 3 Cabellas (spelling?) or Ducks, my wife and son found some hats and felt festive!

We left Meixco to start our journey into the World, when we would encounter the Donald yet again. We showed him where to sign, but when he saw Daisey Signature he brought it to his bill and kissed her signature.

Then I heard it calling me! The Frozen Margarita stand! I ordered one and began to consume. I don't normally get a chance to drink a good adult beverage due to the nature of my job. One DUI is met with a very heavy punishment at work! So I just never risk it, even 1 drink at dinner. I indulged in this long overdo drink and it obliged by hitting me back hard! As I finished I began to feel gitty. Wow those or deceptively strong. I would text the CM about it and he laughed and said Mexico is definitely a good little bar to be!

Meanwhile my wife took a picture of across the way.

Before we knew it we were in China.

Adam was extremely shy with the characters. He would talk to them but in a voice so small you couldn't really hear. Mulan would read his shirt and ask him a question which he talked but I'm not even sure what he said.

Soon, we would be off to Norway where we would get inline for Maelstorm only to get back out because : the bathroom. So we skipped it as it was heading for the better part of a 40 minute wait. We strolled pass Germany all the while looking at the offerings of the various countries for F&W. Nothing really appealed to us, so we kept walking. This became a slight irritation of mine as I have always wanted to stroll through "the world" seeing the carious shops and stuff. My son and wife had no desire to stop. Not long we would be in Italy picking up the Kim possible suff to only find out that we had to go back to Germany. My wife wasn't happy about that. So she told me to take the kid. Her feet were really giving her trouble that day. (She has plantersfacitis.) So we headed off to Germany and my wife took some pictures of Italy.

Adam and I would do the Kim possible Germany, which I thought was pretty good and frankly a lot of fun. My wife would find us and sat down while she was enjoying a crab cake from the US booth for F&W. I thought it was a little fishy or gamy. Then Adam would choose to do Japan as that was on the way we were going.

We stopped briefly in America as I wanted to watch the inside show. My wife and son.. no need to wait. So we moved along to Japan. A CM told us it was his favorite where you sign up for Kim Possible. The first part was, the rest was well frustrating. We quickly grew tired of the KP stuff and my wife was becoming annoyed as it was almost 4 in the afternoon.

I could tell that my wife was hungry and until she could eat, she would not be happy. So we walked to Morocco where she would order something from the Cafe. She was really looking forward to some "home-cooking" as her family is Arabic. She would tell me later that although the Sherma platter was good, you could tell it was in a hotbox as it was dry in spots while other parts were great. While she ate though, my son and I lined up for Jasmine and Alladin.

When he walked up to Jasmine and Alladin, he asked where Abu was. Jasmine told him politely that we was running around in the city to which they all shared a laugh. They signed, posed Adam, and then took picture with him. Onward to France.

In France, I would stop for a short rib which was a little disappointing. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was just ok. We would run into Princess Aroura and then Belle and the Beast.

Adam wanted the Beast to sign but he wasn't out while we were in line. Then about 4 people away he showed up! He was excited and we got up to Belle he asked will Beast sign.
She politely said, "no."
He looked puzzled for a moment and asked her "will you sign for Beast?"
To which she said in a sweet voice and a soft smile while she was signing, " I always do."

France by far is one beautiful place.

We would then leave France behind us and move along to England. Just as we got to the bridge, I saw that Mary Poppins was taking pictures. So we say it with me, "Took pictures and got a signature."

Adam would ask Mary what her favorite color was... her reply? RED!
*To my disappointment, when we got home the picture of Mary came out blurry. So no picture.

 

[Fastpaks]

Now Adam was starting to show his displeasure in being hungry. So we started on the journey back to Future World. We would stop for the Lobster Shepard Pie from Ireland which I found to be good. I gave half of it to Adam to tide him over just a bit. While we were there, we watched the end of Keltic something. (Sorry I can't remember the name.) I loved the music but it was the end of their set.

Once we got back into Future World, we would walk into Innovations and do the Weather 3D show. We all enjoyed it, though I think it was cause we were off our feet! From there it was, Space Ship Earth where I would would have to once again settle Adam down from a panicking about the ride being in the dark. He realized that it was a "relaxing ride" and proceeded to chilled out.

Afterwards, we headed to The Land Pavilion to eat. I'm glad that the CMs let you eat a kids meal because nothing jumped out at me. Then with our bellies full we went to the Land, ONLY to be detoured to the bathroom. When I came out my wife was waiting on us, and we decided to ride Soarin.

By far, this ride is still full of awesome! We all enjoyed our 4 mins of flight. My wife were looking forward to riding the land as we thought about all the funny veggies that Adam would see. ONLY to find the ride had just closed at 7:00pm. It was nearly 7:15. So it was off to find NEMO.

Once we got on the clamshells and rode through the experience.. Adam would tug at my shirt saying can we do that again? I told him in a little bit but let's go have some fun. We walked around for a bit. Looking at all the weird but very cool Sea Horses in there aquarium. Saw the dolphins and then we saw Turtle Talk with Crush. Very cool experience. Adam didn't want to ask a question as he didn't want to be away from his parents all that much. He is cautious by nature until he knows what's going on then BAM!! Full tilt.

The full day was catching up to him. Once we can out from Turtle Talk, Adam and I noticed we were at the front of the line to go back in... So we hopped back in line and Road the Nemo portion one more time for good measure.

It was 8:00 so we decided on quick pictures with Bruce and we were off to Illuminations.

We would find a spot for Illuminations behind one of those "tent shops" after some 'Cougar types' showed us their spot. Not long after, we were kicked out of the spot by a CM and the show began. We all would have been fine in between the 'tent stores' but my wife being short was pushed out of the way by some international people. About halfway through the fireworks, we got bored with them and decided to call it a night.

Final thoughts: I enjoyed Epcot waaaaayy more than I thought I would. Mostly though cause of F&W. My son, although somewhat interested, became bored fairly quickly. My Wife has told me that if I want to come here in the future, I can by myself. It was definitely different to go Epcot with a kid in tow this time. Personally, I like to stroll at a leisurely pace and for me, especially in "world" portion I think I would like it more if I could have done that. We as a family decided that when I come back (absolutely in a F&W event day) that they will stay at the hotel and relax while I get my fill of the World Showcase.

Next: 3 star to 5 star!